EU supports AI innovation but insists on compliance with bloc's safety rules amid concerns

The European Commission said on Monday that it supports innovation and the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) services in Europe but stressed that companies must comply fully with the bloc's safety and security rules.

"We are for innovation in Europe. We welcome AI services in Europe, as long, of course, this is done fully in line with the AI Act and the safeguards that we have put in place," European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told reporters at a midday briefing in Brussels.

"We are all in favor of having innovative and the latest models in the European Union, but we are not compromising on our security standards," he added.

Regnier was responding to a question about a proposal by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei calling on AI companies to slow the pace of frontier AI development amid growing concerns about the ability to control increasingly advanced systems.

He said the EU was "definitely playing a role" in AI development and described the bloc as a "front runner" in putting safeguards in place for the development and deployment of artificial intelligence.

Regnier said the EU's AI Act is fully enforced and that authorities have already sent their first requests for information as part of efforts to ensure compliance.

Asked whether Anthropic had engaged with the commission over its proposal to pace frontier AI development, Regnier said he was not aware of any such engagement and stressed that the commission would not enter into bilateral discussions of that nature.

AI development concerns came to the fore following a statement by Amodei urging AI firms to slow down the pace of model development amid growing concerns over controlling AI systems.

Billionaire Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman expressed support for Amodei on their social media accounts.